Saturn dethrones Jupiter as king of the moons, more new moons

London: In July 2018, scientists
announced the discovery of 12 new moons orbiting Jupiter, bringing the planet’s
total number of known moons to an amazing 79—the most of any planet in our
Solar System.

A team of astronomers from the
International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center have discovered a host
of 20 new moons orbiting the planet Saturn, bringing its total to 82.

The Carnegie Institution for Science’s Scott S. Sheppard led a
team of scientists in a major discovery that means Saturn takes over from
Jupiter, which has 79, as our solar system’s “king of the moons”, the
organisation’s website states.

The experts say the moons are similar in size, about five kilometers
in diameter, and a majority – 17 – orbit in retrograde, against the rotation of
the planet on its axis.

“Studying the orbits of these
moons can reveal their origins, as well as information about the conditions
surrounding Saturn at the time of its formation,” said Sheppard.

According to the study, the formation of the retrograde moons
indicates they were likely once part of a larger moon that was fractured.

“This kind of grouping of outer
moons is also seen around Jupiter, indicating violent collisions occurred
between moons in the Saturnian system or with outside objects such as passing
asteroids or comets,” said Sheppard.

The researchers believe the moons were likely created after the
planet had most already been formed, given their proximity.

“The fact that these newly
discovered moons were able to continue orbiting Saturn after their parent moons
broke apart indicates that these collisions occurred after the planet formation
process was mostly complete and the disks were no longer a factor.”

Last year, twelve new moons orbiting
Jupiter were found, bringing
Jupiter’s total number of known moons to 79 and making it a record-holder
amongst the planets in our Solar System.

The team led by Scott S. Sheppard first spotted the moons in the spring of 2017 while they were looking for very distant Solar System objects as part of the hunt for a possible massive planet far beyond Pluto.